Could former Hornets teammates David West and Chris Paul reunite in Los Angeles this offseason?
Five dribbles of chatter from the league's front-office and coaching grapevines:
Among the immediate concerns for the Indiana Pacers heading into the Eastern Conference finals against Miami is the state of David West's right calf. One of the longer-term worries, though, is West's forthcoming free agency.
The Pacers' veteran leader openly loves his situation in Indiana, which certainly gives Indy justified cause for optimism when it comes to re-signing the 32-year-old this summer. Yet the whispers are already swirling that Chris Paul's Los Angeles Clippers, in particular, are....

If they get David west to be our center that means for sure dj will be package with Bledsoe and hopefully they trade butler with all those guys off the books we can get pierce after he is bought out for veterans minimum. We can sign jk redick or Kyle korver or on ok mayo. We will also have enoughy to sign Matt barness back. If we get lucky we can ask celtics to release Garnett or trade him to us. I know it's a lot but honestly it's possible!

I can't see DWest playing and being successful @C in the West Conf but he'd be a helluva backup PF on next yrs team.

Clippersfan86

05/21/2013 - 11:03 AM PST

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West is 6'8 BTW guys. Griffin has dominated for stretches at C but I dont like the idea long term. We need somebody like Pokovic, Asik, Vujevic or Andre Drummond. Huge centers who love to play physical and are consistent.

mj_shoefanatic

05/21/2013 - 11:03 AM PST

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Love this scenario. I still think would should pursue Al Jefferson or Milsap and offer Utah DJ or Caron if KG/Truth can't be had.

clippyclip

05/21/2013 - 11:07 AM PST

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I don't think he would be our center. He's a PF, and only 6' 9". I'm sure he would be BG's backup.

CapsNClips

05/21/2013 - 11:08 AM PST

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If David West would accept being a back up PF and occasional C when the opposing lineup is small, I would say this is absolutely my favorite rumor so far.

David West is a winner at the highest order, he's tuff as nails, he's as smart as any big in the league, and he's got a wet jumper.

23efren23

05/21/2013 - 11:15 AM PST

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He is not a center but I'm sure he won't be a back up to dj and if he leaves Indiana I'm sure he wants to draya. Starter so he has to play center unless Blake does

realbull17

05/21/2013 - 11:38 AM PST

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DW come to LA.

ClippersSince97

05/21/2013 - 11:45 AM PST

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I doubt West thinks he's nearing the twilight of his career to take a pay cut and a back seat. Plus, he's going to be paid nearly double what we can offer him. And also the Pacers are playing really well and have a bright future. He did come out and say he loves the Pacers and is open to re-signing. IMO, chances are slim to none.

BG or West at the 5 is not a good idea assuming DJ will be moved with Bled. I'd rather try and sign Al Jefferson.

He's 6'8 like Elton Brand is 6'8. His effective basketball height is more like 6'11 because of his very long wingspan. He has length similar to LaMarcus Aldridge, I think a 9'2 standing reach. I don't think he's the best option at C, but he would certainly fit well on this roster with Paul and Blake.

Not sure I agree with Pekovic when it comes to defense, but you obviously know Drummond and Vucevic are not options. Asik could be, but he's really not better than DJ, he's a poor finisher even thou he rebounds and defends better. He doesn't stretch the floor and he's also a bad FT shooter. I'd toe my chances with DJ.

You guys all realize that if West is signed for the full MLE, it's not possible to sign any other free agents to contracts greater than the minimum or using any other exceptions (I don't think the Clips have any others available). So we can't sign West then go out and sign Mayo or Korver or Redick, and Barnes can't get a pay raise.

Just be aware of that. The other players will be coming through trade, not FA signing. With that said, I see no reason why he takes this pay cut and I believe this rumor has no substance

Jerediscool

05/21/2013 - 12:32 PM PST

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Sign and trade. Butler DJ and Bledsoe for west and granger. Then we'd have money to bring back Barnes and maybe grab a JJ or OJ or KK

david

05/21/2013 - 01:06 PM PST

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David West would be great- deadly on offense with his jumpers and solid defensively as well. But yeah I doubt he'd come for MLE. Sign and trade would be the most possible route.

BTW added a poll to the opening post.

ClipperDB

05/21/2013 - 01:20 PM PST

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why would we go after a Pf????????? We have 2 gigantic holes - c and sg. That is where we need to spend our $$$.

hoopfanjd31

05/21/2013 - 01:23 PM PST

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Yeah, that would be great, but there's no way Indiana would do it. They already have all the positions that Butler, DJ and Bledsoe play filled. I don't think they're interested in acquiring high-priced back-ups just to say they got something for West.

Jerediscool

05/21/2013 - 01:24 PM PST

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I think in today's game with so few actual Cs it's very possible to get by with complimenting styles of PFs, an inside and an outside version. They may struggle a little against the dominant Cs but our shitty C (Jordan) struggled too. If we aren't getting a top 5 C we might as well have two kick ass PFs. Heck, JJ Hickson was a better C this year than DJ and he's only a PF.

Clippersfan86

05/21/2013 - 01:27 PM PST

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Omer Asik not better than DJ Agent? Joke right? 2nd or 3rd best rebounder in NBA and a superb post defender who's incredibly physical. Sure his offense isnt much better than DJ's but his defense, rebounding and IQ obliterate DJ.

renshaibob

05/21/2013 - 01:33 PM PST

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exactly, DW is not a great defender either. we would be slow as hell with DW Butler and Billups out there. Stupid move. Could this just be smoke to hide the fact that their getting ready to rehire VDN?

Jerediscool

05/21/2013 - 01:34 PM PST

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hoopfanjd31 wrote:

Jerediscool wrote:

Sign and trade. Butler DJ and Bledsoe for west and granger. Then we'd have money to bring back Barnes and maybe grab a JJ or OJ or KK

Yeah, that would be great, but there's no way Indiana would do it. They already have all the positions that Butler, DJ and Bledsoe play filled. I don't think they're interested in acquiring high-priced back-ups just to say they got something for West.

If a stud on your team wants to leave you'll try to recover whatever you can for him. You don't just let them walk for nothing if you don't have to. They have no back up PG on the roster after this season either, and Caron saves them money at SF

hoopfanjd31

05/21/2013 - 01:42 PM PST

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^^^ Yeah, I just don't see it happening. I seriously doubt Bledsoe is going to want to back up George Hill and with all the money Indiana has tied up in Hibbert, they're not going to want to also pay $10 million a year to his back up. I just think there's going to be better options for Indiana if West is intent on leaving. But maybe that means bringing a 3rd team in to take DJ. Who knows. I'm just not holding my breath for this to happen.

clippersforlife33

05/21/2013 - 01:43 PM PST

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david west is a great player but it doesnt make any sense. neither west or griffin can play C long term and west is definitely not coming off the bench.

tense2

05/21/2013 - 01:47 PM PST

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Should we file this trade rumor in the same bin as the Clippers pursuing Howard rumor. 8)

Voyeur

05/21/2013 - 02:10 PM PST

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Not sure this makes sense at all. No way a guy that good backs up anyone. He is a total PF....unless we decide we want a BIG frontline and he's our new SF.

CapsNClips

05/21/2013 - 02:11 PM PST

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David West for Head Coach???

ekker3

05/21/2013 - 02:32 PM PST

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very weird to have a guy that does fit linked to the squad. no way the dude would use his free agency to sign with a team on the cheap to come off the bench. i know i wouldnt.

Voyeur

05/21/2013 - 02:47 PM PST

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This feels like when we had that rumor about Milsap. Kinda didn't make sense.

Hoop

05/21/2013 - 03:06 PM PST

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West is a (much) better odom , so yes it makes sense and would be a nice addition + hes cheaper than him right now if he takes the MLE.

tense2

05/21/2013 - 03:06 PM PST

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It's a test.

Agent0

05/21/2013 - 03:43 PM PST

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Asik brings a lot of similar problems, is a worse finisher than DJ, and without a solid defensive system doesn't look that much better defensively. He shot a career high 56.5% FT. He's just as likely to digress in his FT shooting like DJ did this season. He was at 45.6% and 50.2% the previous two seasons.

His blocks /36 went down from 2.5 to 1.3, most likely because he couldn't be as big of a shot blocking threat without fouling (this is with the understanding than more blocks doesn't necessarily mean good defense, but it could). GREAT rebounder, which is one of his biggest defensive impacts. 31.0 DRB%, that's just superb.

He anchored a 16th ranked rockets defense his DRTG was 3.1 pts/100 better than the team defensively. According to on/off numbers, Houston was 5.8 pts/100 better defensively with him on the court. Of course who comes off the bench for you matters and having poor defenders off the bench will make you look better as opposed to good ones.

DJ "anchored" an 8th ranked defense and his DRTG was 3.6 pts/100 better than the team defensively. According to on/off numbers, Clippers were 6.4 pts/100 worse on defense with DJ on the court.

Of course DJ was on the court with poor defenders like Butler, Billups, and even Blake who was only average at best, while the bench consisted of good defenders like Bledsoe, Barnes, and Odom. To get a better feel:

Blake: defense 8.1 pts/100 worse with him on

Billups: defense 7.2 pts/100 worse with him on

Paul: defense 5.4 pts/100 worse with him on

Butler: defense 5.3 pts/100 worse with him on

DJ played 2008 minutes during the season. He was on the court for about 68 total minutes WITHOUT Blake.

Then you ask, what about Odom, he had a 99 Drtg, played with Blake a decent amount too. The team was 9.7 pts/100 better defensively with Odom. Odom played 325 minutes / 1616 with Blake on the floor. 75 minutes with Butler, and 42 of those were also with Blake, and was never on the court with Bullups.

Yes, if you play with all the better defenders and avoid playing with all the bad/mediocre ones, you will have better defensive numbers than someone who is mainly playing with the poorer defenders.

Asik is an improvement in rebounding and overall defense. Defense is a team issue though, and he's not a KG type to change that alone, and even KG could only do so much with some of the Minnesota teams. He's worse offensively, a worse finisher, also clogs the lane and he's similarly bad as a FT shooter. You're placing too high expectations of how much he would help this team. It wouldn't be the difference between 56 games and 60 games, though it could arguably have helped against Memphis.

Agent0

05/21/2013 - 03:56 PM PST

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LaMarcus Aldridge should have manned up and played C. A fairly strong guy who is 6'11 and has a 7'5 wingspan and 9'2 standing reach should be embarrassed to have his 6'9 teammate playing C. What more tools do Bosh or KG have to play C?

There's no way Hickson has better tools than that to play C. Was Hickson better than DJ though? Blazers were 26th in Drtg. An already bad defensive team was better with him on the bench. His defensive rebounding numbers were a career high, but when you factor in playing next to LaMarcus Aldridge who rebounds defensively like Andrea Bargnani, it's not as impressive. He averaged 0.8 blks/36 and I remember reports of the Blazers being on of the worst in the league in FG% in the paint or something like that. His numbers were nicer, but I'm a little cautious if that meant he was a better C or just a better offensive player, certainly not better as a rebounder or defender. The rebounding numbers are an outlier that came playing next to LMA.

Clippersfan86

05/21/2013 - 04:00 PM PST

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Agent I never called Asik a dominant defensive anchor or a KG. Bottom line is he's a substantial upgrade over DJ defensively and on the boards and using Drtg isn't smart because it's a team stat. Anybody who watches basketball knows with conviction that he blows DJ away. I agree offensively he's equally as bad and from the line but at least he gives you excellent post D and rebounding, something DJ doesn't.

Jerediscool

05/21/2013 - 04:29 PM PST

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Agent0 wrote:

Jerediscool wrote:

I think in today's game with so few actual Cs it's very possible to get by with complimenting styles of PFs, an inside and an outside version. They may struggle a little against the dominant Cs but our shitty C (Jordan) struggled too. If we aren't getting a top 5 C we might as well have two kick ass PFs. Heck, JJ Hickson was a better C this year than DJ and he's only a PF.

LaMarcus Aldridge should have manned up and played C. A fairly strong guy who is 6'11 and has a 7'5 wingspan and 9'2 standing reach should be embarrassed to have his 6'9 teammate playing C. What more tools do Bosh or KG have to play C?

There's no way Hickson has better tools than that to play C. Was Hickson better than DJ though? Blazers were 26th in Drtg. An already bad defensive team was better with him on the bench. His defensive rebounding numbers were a career high, but when you factor in playing next to LaMarcus Aldridge who rebounds defensively like Andrea Bargnani, it's not as impressive. He averaged 0.8 blks/36 and I remember reports of the Blazers being on of the worst in the league in FG% in the paint or something like that. His numbers were nicer, but I'm a little cautious if that meant he was a better C or just a better offensive player, certainly not better as a rebounder or defender. The rebounding numbers are an outlier that came playing next to LMA.

DJ had 12 double doubles all season long. JJ hickson had 40! He averaged a double double. 12.7 and 10.4 vs 8.8 and 7.2. im definitely not saying hes a better defender but he is a better player and could be counted on down the stretch. 67% FT shooting vs 38%! Thats where all the difference can be right there. give up the one block for and extra 4 points and 2 rebounds any day. most of DJs blocks were straight out of bounds and the other team got the ball back anyway.

JJ Hickson isnt a C but played the role of one this season and played it better than DJ did. those are facts. ID rather have him

Agent0

05/21/2013 - 04:30 PM PST

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I'm not saying that you called him that, but I'm saying that if the teams defensive system doesn't upgrade also, you'd need more than just a better defender to improve the team defense. You need a player with anchor level impact to do that, and even those guys can only do so much.

You are right about DRTG, but you are saying the same thing I said in my post. That's why I mentioned their defensive rating in comparison to their own team, the difference with them on and off, and with DJ also the impact of who he is playing with. I am very aware that DRTG is a team stat, that's why I didn't directly compare each players DRTG because that means nothing. I compared it to their OWN teams. That isn't absolute but has some staring comparative value and gives us a picture.

I've seen Asik play, he does certain things better, but he isn't a significantly better player. Now I'll also go back in terms of defensive rebounding, Asik had a career high, fairly significantly higher than his previous rates. Defensive rebounding is also something I believe needs context.

Here are the per 36 and DRB% for Houston's starting PF's:

Morris: 4.9, 15.2%

Patterson: 4.4 / 13.6 (same as Delfino and Parsons)

Donatas: 3.8 / 11.9 (same as Harden and Beverly)

Well you ask, is it him rebounding so well, or is it that they are bad, so lets look at their DRB% before:

Morris: Phoenix (12.9) / Houston last season (10.6)

Patterson: Sacramento (16.1) / Houston first two years (14.2)

So Asik got plugged next to three poor defensive rebounding PF's, and his DRB% went up 6-7% compared to his career. He's a good rebounder, very good, but 9.9 Drebs/36 and 31% DRB might overstate it a little bit.

It's similar to Reggie:

Toronto (Bargnani): 10.2 Dreb/36, 25.6 DRB%

Clippers: 8.0 Dreb/36, 20.9 DRB%

Nets (Lopez): 11.5 Dreb/36, 26.7 DRB%

Still a good rebounder as a Clipper, but not as dominant looking. Reggie wasn't getting better or worse on the defensive glass, he just went from playing with awful rebounding big men to better rebounding big men.

4.5 more minutes is a lot of time to get 2 pts and 2 Rebs in 28/68 remaining games that DJ didn't have a double double. DJ averages 0.36 pts and 0.29 Rebs every minute he's on the floor. You give him 4.5 more minutes, on average he will give you 1.62 pts and 1.3 rebounds. Lets say 1/3 is average, 1/3 is below and 1/3 is above, that would give him another 23 (1/3 of 68 ) double doubles on the season (35 total). Sadly he would not be a different or better player than he is because of that. You're looking at it the wrong way if you are just directly comparing production without taking minutes into account.

Of course any player is more valuable if you don't have to take them out because of FT shooting, but Hickson wasn't a better C than DJ because he's a better scorer and shooter. He was massively inferior as a defensive player, and a frontline of Griffin and Hickson might produce the worst, non shot blocking, no length front court in the NBA. His scoring wouldn't make up for it, and for example against Memphis it would have been an even worse slaughter.

Jerediscool

05/21/2013 - 05:02 PM PST

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If you cant stay on the floor bc you are a liability, than you cant get points. It wasnt because we had so much depth at C that DJ didnt get minutes. It was bc he sucked. Hes not good hes not worth the money and he isnt even in the top 20 at his position.

Jerediscool

05/21/2013 - 05:04 PM PST

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all im saying is that David West and Griffin would make up a better tandem and would be more useful to the team than Griffin and DJ.

FightOnRon

05/21/2013 - 05:32 PM PST

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That guy in your avatar and Blake would be better then Blake and DJ

yes I know Ron Burgandy

toohipcliptoslip

05/21/2013 - 05:54 PM PST

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We need somebody young not another 30+ guy if we're going to build a dynasty. Look at Parker. Pop molded him.

Amnesty_David_Stern

05/21/2013 - 05:55 PM PST

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I don't understand this at all, West is a PF plain and simple. Using him at C could give mismatches all around. And I am not sure his defense is up to par either.

I don't know where this rumor came from, but the best option is to go out and grab a center via a trade. Even if it means packaging Bledsoe and Butler with a future 1st rounder or TWO. Then we should look at trying to trade DeAndre to a team that needs a C or a backup C and get a SG or SF to start in return. There are plenty of capable players that are overpaid like DJ that could start and fit in well here.

tense2

05/21/2013 - 06:02 PM PST

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Trade DJ for Nicholas Batum. Batum had an "off" year (not really) and I think he could be had. He's young (24), cost slightly more than DJ and would be a perfect fit.

^^^I like Batum, but haven't the Blazers said consistently that he's one of their cornerstones? I know these things are subject to change, but I don't know how available he is. But it couldn't hurt for Sacks to pick up the phone and call his old buddy Olshey.

tense2

05/21/2013 - 06:19 PM PST

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Throw in our 1st round pick too.

Jerediscool

05/21/2013 - 06:20 PM PST

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tense2 wrote:

Jerediscool wrote:

all im saying is that David West and Griffin would make up a better tandem and would be more useful to the team than Griffin and DJ.

Trade DJ for Nicholas Batum. Batum had an "off" year (not really) and I think he could be had. He's young (24), cost slightly more than DJ and would be a perfect fit.